HackVoid
by Lone Wanderer Prattor
Summary: First fic. When a player recieves The World he is thrust into a web of lies and truth. The answers will only come through unlocking the secrets of the Battlemage and through knowledge of the Twilight, as well as of the past.


Prattor: Hello. No one is here yet, but know that this space shall be filled. For now you are wasting your time reading this section.  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own .Hack anything. Really I don't I just watch the shows and try to find .HackInfection. Bandai, and who knows else owns .Hack.  
  
Thinking "YELLING" INSANELY POWERFUL BEING SPEAKING (Explanation from the Author)  
  
.HackVoid  
Chapter 1: Black Phoenix  
  
(Wodin Carthot's Point of View)  
  
Boredom. It is what welcomes me when I return from school. I do my homework, have a snack, find out what has happened, and then ponder what to do. Well at least that was the case until today. My family had just bought a game called the world. I had heard good things about it from the few classmates that would speak to me. If you don't know me then that is good, but my parents have asked me to keep a log of the people on The World so they could tell what kind of people these players are. Many people in the school play this game so I thought I would try it and see how I liked it.  
  
My name is Wodin Carthot, and what I just wrote isn't exactly true. I entered a contest at the request of my friends. My parents said it was alright so I entered. The prize was The World game, the equipment to play it and the ability to create my own class for my character. I didn't read the fine print and so I was surprised when I received the e-mail saying that I had won, and the class I created for my character had been approved for my sole use. The character was the Battle Mage, a mixture of magic and weaponry capable of casting strong spells or of front line battle. What grows stronger depends on how I defeat my enemies.  
  
I won't tell you what I am like, just incase this falls out of my hands. It may be a little paranoid thinking on my part, but oh well. It's not like anyone else will read this. All you need to know is that my characters name is Dagda, and I'm about to log in to what is considered the most interactive game ever.  
  
(Still Wodin's View)  
  
I turn on the computer and the familiar screen of the Altimit network fills up the screen. I was alive when the Pluto's Kiss virus wiped out most of the Internet. Ever since then the Altimit network has been the world's outlook into the Net. It's supposed to be very hard to break into, but I guess it's only a matter of time until someone manages to break through its security, and then another system will arise with time. It's, what do they call it, natural selection in a way. I click on the button that says The World, and the screen changes to black for a second until the main menu pops up. A message asking me to run a diagnostic to see if the equipment works shows up and I say ok. Everything works fine.  
  
It's time to register. My Mom fills out the electronic paperwork and sends it in. A loading screen pops up and a few minutes later vanishes. It is replaced by a new screen. This time asks me to verify my identity, the form filled out looks like this:  
  
Screen Name: Dagda Members Address: Lone Wanderer of the Twilight. (If he only knew...) Password: Vortex of Sorrow Verify: Vortex of Sorrow  
  
I click the done button and another loading screen pops up, this one only lasting a few seconds. The screen goes black and is replaced by a screen showing four options: Play, E-mail, Message Boards, and exit. I click the button labeled play and a screen that says character generation pops up. It says my name is Azaraphiel, I'll look into the change later but for now I move on. Next it asks for me to choose what my character's class is. I click on the box and a menu drops down. It shows six options: Blade User, Long Arm, Heavy Blade, Heavy Axe, Wavemaster, and Special. I say special and a voice says "You have selected the Battle Mage class. Are you sure this is your choice." "Yes" I reply. I then go to customize my character's appearance and select the following features:  
  
Hair Color: Black Eye Color: Grey Face Marks: None Height: 6'1 Current Age of Avatar: 12 Gender: Male Distinguishing Trait: Unable to keep a smile for very long Weight: 89 lbs, training prevented much eating  
  
I say "Finished" into the headset and a loading screen appears. A few seconds later the screen fades into the environment and I realize that this is amazing. I can see the sun reflect off the river and hear the clang of swords. I can even feel the heat of the fire. Yeah, it took me a while to realize what had happened. The town was Mac Anu, and it was on Fire.  
  
(Ascelipsis' Point of View)  
  
This town was rumored to be prosperous and to house the headquarters of the Cerulean Knights, a group of people who work for the company that makes The World, CC Corp. They are supposed to keep the balance in the game, but often end up attacking players who had modified their characters. The Knights were locked in battle, and I was supporting them. The monster they were fighting was powerful and unknown. That may not seem too strange except that due to working for CC Corp., they know all the monsters that normally exist. So this monster wasn't normal even by the maniacal mind of our opponent. His name is Kanöe, the Arch Lich.  
  
My name is Asceilpsis, Necromancer of Midday. I specialize in the manipulation of life energy, particularly that of restoring the energy of others. Normally I would stay away from these groups but, people are falling into a coma because of encounters with unknown monsters in The World. This is strange as what happens in a game should not affect reality in any way. In real life I am a doctor, and a special division has been created to deal with these cases. I am in charge of that division in Ireland, so this is a conflict of interest for me.  
  
Unlike in most games here a lich is just a powerful person or monster, and is not undead in any way. Usually they are portrayed as undead spell casters, using painful rituals that extend their life to furthering their evil goals. The World has never seen a lich before, but this guy goes beyond the system's definition. He has attained the status of Arch Lich. Kanöe has wiped out battalions of soldiers in minutes. There are no gods in The World, but whispers of names such as Aura and Morganna creep across the virtual landscapes nonetheless. If he is not stopped his name will sneak into the lists of heroes like Kite and Blackrose for some and there may be no stopping him.  
  
Before me stand ten members of the Cerulean Knights. Swords drawn they swing their axes and swords at the enemy before them. The creature floats above the ground, draped in a black cloak. Its hands grasp a scythe, and its face is covered by a mask portraying a smiling face. It disgusts me that smile as it cuts them down. It doesn't even try to block the assault and as the blades land it seems stunned and the knights hold their breath hoping that is finally dead, this monster. Their thoughts are cut short as the wounds heal right in front of their eyes.  
  
The beast raises its scythe as it prepares to strike. The soldiers raise there weapons in hopes that they can block the attack. I raise my hands and the familiar sense of life and death washes over me as I cast my strongest healing spell. I know it won't help as I watch the blade of this monster swoop down on my comrades. It passes through the weapons and armor and then cuts through the necks of the first five before it switches the blade and cuts through the others through the chests of the rest. I cast the spell but to no avail. Their outline shines red, and I can hear their silent curses as their avatars fall to the ground. I can tell that somewhere ten more bodies just fell to the floor in a coma, as it hefts its scythe into the air. It's then I notice the boy by the Chaos Gate, his face screwed into a look of horror. Then I hear a familiar voice STOP, DEAL WITH THE OTHER CERULEAN FOOLS. THIS SOUL I TAKE MYSELF. It was Kanöe, and for the first time in a while my stomach twists in dread.  
  
(Wodin's View)  
  
Dear Lord, what have I gotten myself into? It was horrible seeing that. It's just computer code... it's not like anyone actually got hurt right? I keep telling myself that, but I don't believe it. There is this man in white, a wavemaster, is the last one left, and by his face I can tell he is scared to death.  
  
"What are you standing there for? Run you idiot!" He yells. I can tell he means it so I turn away and move as fast as I can.  
  
Unfortunately, my character is slow as molasses. I get to the Chaos Gate and raise my hand to activate it. I tremble as I try to remember some keywords, anything that will get me away from here. I remember some too late. The giant spinning ring slows down, and the drops to the ground. I'm trapped. Th... there's no way out. I'm trapped, and doomed. I turn around and there is this guy. He us dressed completely in black armor, supernaturally black. You might think I'm crazy, but this guy's armor seems to cause terror. He raises a sword and swings it. I close my eyes, and I here a clang. When my eyes open I see this other, larger, sword has blocked it.  
  
"Hit him! I can't hold this up for ever so hit him already!" This voice is different from the last one, a girl's voice, strangely calming.  
  
I listen and draw the longsword at my side. Strange isn't it, that I would only just now remember I can defend myself. I attack, moving my arms diagonally from upper left to lower right. It must have hit something sensitive, because the man in black yells and falls to the grounds. He looks dead and his sword clatters to the ground. It's just then I notice that mine has shattered from the impact. Great I just start and already I lost something. I pick up his sword to replace mine.  
  
The sword is surprisingly light. It looked short in this guy's hands, but it's pretty long. It feels different to me then my old one did, almost resonating with some strange feeling. Maybe it's magic, but it's probably just me. I'll see if it is later. Right now I need to get to a safer place than this, I think.  
  
I go to turn around and thank the person with that larger sword when I feel a pain in my shoulder. My vision blurs and my legs feel hollow as I try to figure out what happened. What was that? It felt like an arrow or something.... It felt like I was continually falling, with no end in sight and people hovering over me. The last thing I could see was the image of a black flaming bird. A black phoenix on perched on a tree. Then my vision went black, but I still heard something.  
  
"Come on Ascel, it's time to go."  
  
"Ok but we could have brought him with us without the toxin you know."  
  
"Shut up and get us out of here."  
  
"Fine, Fine. Delta Server-Infinite Forests' End."  
  
End of Tape  
  
Prattor: So what did you think? I won't force you to review but any suggestions would be nice. Just try to actually let me know what's wrong and not just rant.  
  
Preview of Chapter 2: Home for Now  
  
Unknown Voice: Journal Log #001. Subject: Wodin Carthot. Ascelipsis  
and I plan to ask him a few questions when this Wodin kid wakes up.  
  
Prattor: And for those who read this some answers for both for you and  
Wodin, but also more questions. Plus, your first look at the enemies'  
first puppet. What you thought we were going to tell who it was in the  
second chapter? 


End file.
